Possibilities
by alison-sy
Summary: What if the song didn't end after the Doctor's regeneration? What if he got a second chance?
1. Chapter 1

"I don't want to go. "

He despised the words, even as they came out of his mouth. He knew he wasn't _going_ anywhere, but they still rang of truth. He loved this body. The exuberance, the hair, the brainy specs, even the pain he had grown so tragically accustomed to. That dull ache in his hearts, having loved and lost and lost again, so many times. It was getting to be too much, but he didn't want it to end. Not now, not ever. Even the terrible agony was worth it.

Oh. The agony. Regeneration. That was the purpose of his internal monologue. They say that when you are about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. But when you've lived over 900 years, you tend to fixate on a moment, a person that mattered. His beloved pink and yellow flower, defender of the Earth and countless worlds beyond. Off with him. The *other* Doctor. He couldn't bear to dwell on that for too long; however much it hurt her, he was hurt a hundred times more. At least she had something. He had nothing. Alone. He had made a noble sacrifice. Noble. A Noble sacrificed, as well. Poor, brilliant Donna. At least she was somewhat happy when he saw her. Everyone he touched, he had poisoned. And now they were paying the price of his mistakes.

No, that was painful too.

He glared at his traitor of a body, going through the painful process of regeneration. Even as he thought about it, this persona was being tucked away, shoved in a box at the back of his superior mind, never to be opened again. Unless something went drastically wrong. That was how it always went.

But no.

Something was different. He could feel his identity being torn away. Now that was odd. Usually it burned. If he could feel it at all. This sensation was like ripping fabric.

Now he was completely and utterly detached. Well, except for the pain. He could feel that perfectly. But suddenly he was watching. Watching himself be transformed.

"No wonder Rose was so afraid. I look awful. " He mused. This was entirely new. He had never seen it from this side before. Now he saw what others had seen: and it was every bit as frightening as they had said.

And of course, his thoughts strayed back on Rose. As painful as it was to think about her, it was more painful not to. Rose. With her lovely smile and eyes and-

The change had finished.

And what was this?

He'd never gotten to see any of his incarnations like this before. It was mad. Absolutely mad.

He could feel himself within the other man-for he felt like another man- like every other before him, but then there was this outside consciousness. This variation of himself was retained Something told him that the part inside his head would have no knowledge of this whole situation.

But what would cause such a thing? What was different? He suspected that he already knew. This time-This time he had left too much of himself behind. That damned metacrisis. Once again, messing everything up.

But why?

Oh.

Suddenly, he could feel himself moving. Traveling as atoms in the air, not fully formed but certainly conscious. The mess on the TARDIS was beyond his control. He could still feel her whispering in his mind, trying to help and comfort and heal.

"Help me." he thought uselessly.

His consciousness faded, and all went dark.

* * *

**Hello everyone! So this story is my personal head-canon for what happens. It started out as just something to cheer myself up, but I think it will be a 'verse by the time I'm through with it. This is only going to be a few chapters long, but expect at LEAST one more story in this 'verse. I don't know, its fun XD. I adore Rose and Ten with all my heart.**

**Reviews make me very, very happy.**

**-alison-sy**


	2. Chapter 2

He dreamt of New Earth.

Not the dark dystopia he'd seen with Martha, but the bright one that smelled of apple grass and young love. The site of their first kiss with both of them  
conscious. Well, mostly. At least she remembered it this go round. It had never been spoken of afterwards, though.

They were lying on the grass again, her head resting on his chest. Not talking, just staring up at the clear blue sky.

"Rose, do you believe in Heaven?" He asked, finding his voice. He had always believed in science: cold hard facts. The possibility of an afterlife never even occurred to him. Had this happened to all his other regenerations?

"Oh, I dunno. That's kind of a big question. " She replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I think I'm there. " he said carefully.

She turned her head to him, her eyes sparkling as her smile spilled across her face.

"Doctor."

"What?"

"DOCTOR."

His eyes snapped open. Eyes! He had eyes! He had never been more thankful for eyes in his life. Not much use, considering the darkness around him, but much better than scattered atoms in the air.

"Are you alright? Here, let me get the light. " A lamp flicked on, and his hearts almost gave out. No, not hearts. His *heart*. Singular. But that issue could wait. He had something much more important to focus on.

Rose, his beautiful Rose, was staring back him. A bit worried, but clearly amused. At him, he supposed.

"I...I..." he breathed, taking in his surroundings.

He was in a bed in an unfamiliar room- with Rose Tyler, no less. This wasn't right. It couldn't be. She was in that parallel universe...with him. The other Doctor.

He could see the whole ordeal unfolding in his mind's eye. That godforsaken beach. Watching her kissing him. The man who was, but wasn't. It tore him apart to walk away from her. His Rose. She had promised him forever, and now he was going to get it. She would haunt his every thought and action. But they were forced apart. He couldn't imagine anything worse.

"Doctor? Are you alright?" Her eyebrows drew together, amusement draining from her eyes.

He couldn't speak, couldn't force his mouth to form the words. His eyes burned, hot and wet. She pulled him in tightly, trying to soothe a pain she didn't yet know of. How so very Rose.

He allowed himself to be rocked, like a child. He certainly felt like a child. Everything was too much. Rose began to draw meaningless patterns on his back, which just made him sob all the more. He was shaking. Time Lords didn't shake.

Was he still a Time Lord? He didn't know. All that mattered in that very moment was Rose. How she looked and smelled and acted.

There was no telling how long they sat there. Time seemed to drip by in a steady trickle of infinite moments. It could've been an hour, or 3 minutes, and they would've had no way of knowing.

At last the tears ran out, as tears typically do, and he was hugging her fiercely, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder.

"It's alright. It's alright. I'm here. Don't worry Doctor. I'm here. " she murmured, trying with all of her might to reach out and help him.

Slowly, very slowly, he raised his head. He traced his fingertips across the smooth line of her jaw, a ghost of a touch.

"Yes. Yes you are."

* * *

AN: I'm SO SO SORRY. I'm not good with days. Or writing. Or really anything. I had this about a third of the way done on my phone for a VERY long time. And I finished it sortof so you wouldn't have to wait so long. I've started chapter three, and it should be up by next week. IM SO SOOOOOOOO SORRY also because its so short, but I'm really busy with school and stuff. AHHHHHH

(but there is one more way to make me go faster...REVIEW!)

(also I don't own Doctor Who)


	3. Chapter 3

Rose was, to put it mildly, very confused. The nightmares had returned, the Daleks and Cybermen and Bad Wolf Bay. So she crept into the Doctors room, seeking the warmth of another body, especially his.  
She hadn't anticipated this. This shaking and crying. Though it helped distract from the nightmares, her heart broke with every sob that wracked his frame. The last of the Time Lords, The Oncoming Storm, crying into the shoulder of a mere human. She tried her best to comfort, to help. He soon cried himself out, no surprise.  
They sat there for a while, just her holding him and whispering comfort. It seemed to help, however fractionally.

* * *

He couldn't...his thoughts...Rose...  
Rose was with him. Rose and the Doctor. Together again, against all odds. Words couldn't express the unspeakable hope and joy and pain and terror. It was as if his mind had gone into overdrive. He just couldn't process all that was happening. All he could think of was Rose.

Come to think of it, she had been quiet for a while.

Somewhere between the crying and the soul-searching, they had laid down on the bed, her head nestled against his neck. She was sound asleep. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her; the sigh of a happy man.

He concentrated on the two heartbeats he felt: his and hers. He had one heart. He was human.  
The Metacrisis Doctor.

That had to be it. He hadn't just left his heart on that beach, he'd left a piece of his soul. Do time lords even have souls? As Martha would say, it all sounded a bit Harry Potter.

It didn't matter. It couldn't. He would explain everything to Rose in the bright daylight, but now it was time to sleep.

And so he did.

* * *

"Rose, there's something you should know."

They were standing on Bad Wolf Bay, the place of her nightmares. _No! No this can't be happening._

She knew she was dreaming, but she couldn't force herself to wake up. In fact, she couldn't force herself to move at all. She stood rooted to the spot, the dread pouring into her heart and racing through her veins.

"Donna forgot me. I wiped her memory so she could live." The Doctor's eyes burned with tears. This was too hard.

"I got tired. Lonely. Reckless. I had another run-in with the Master, and Rose, I had to regenerate. I didn't want to, you have to believe me."

By this point, he was sobbing again. She tried to radiate comfort, show it with her eyes, but it didn't seem to be helping.

"Something happened, Rose. Something big, something that's never happened before. This part of me, the part of me that makes me who I am, splintered off. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I'm him. Really, properly him. The other Doctor, the one with the TARDIS and adventure and darkness, he's gone. He's off in another universe, but I'm still here. I get another chance, with you. If you want me."

* * *

The sun rose, casting it's elegant beams across their touching faces.

Simultaneously, their eyes fluttered open.

"Of course I want you, Doctor." Rose whispered, gently bringing her lips to his.

He smiled against her mouth, almost forgetting to kiss her back. Almost.

**A/N**

**YOU GUYS.**

**IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY.**

**I FEEL SO GUILTYYYYYYYYYY**

**THIS IS CRAP**

**ITS SO FLUFFAYYY**

**IM SORRY I WAS WATCHING DOOMSDAY AND THEN I REMEMBERED THIS AND AHAHHHGRSHFUJRGUHJRGURGBHUDG F**

**Have I apologized for being a bad fic writer enough? GOOD.**

**Suffice to say, I actually teared up while writing this chapter. UGH YOU TWO GIVE ME THE FEELS BIG TIME.**

**In case it wasn't clear, he gave her that information through a psychic link. I know its unlikely but HEY WEIRDER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED ON THIS SHOW INCLUDING ROSE BEING STRANDED IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE EXCUSE YOU.**

**If you want MORE feels, I would recommend Charlene Soraia (sp?)'s version of Wherever You Will Go. THAT SONG AUGHHH. There's also a lovely fanvid on youtube if you'd want to check that out.**

**I'm trying to keep myself on some sort of schedule, so I would expect a new update (either to this fic or to the series, depending) every Saturday/Sunday. **

**_IF I DO NOT HAVE IT POSTED BY MONDAY MORNING, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME HARASS ME ABOUT IT._**

**I'm alison-sy on tumblr, so yeah.**

**I don't own Doctor Who**

**Reviews make surprise updates come on Wednesday...**


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